51 replies to this topic

[Daegog]

Before I return to play and spend a few hundred bucks on whatever, what is the current viewpoint for the totally free to play players?

How screwed are they?

In my experience, these games only go as far as the f2p experience allows. Is it a horrific grind for f2p players to advance and get new mechs? Is it considered f2p friendly?

I have a habit of overspending and im trying to reign myself in and ask before i whip out the credit card and feel buyers remorse 2 weeks later.

[FireStoat]

In regards to free to play games, grind, pay to win, etc -- this game is remarkably good. You could catch a perspective of playing the game and what it rewards a player that pays absolutely nothing by watching Kanajashi's Free to Play youtube series. He spells it all out really well.

I think a player willing to make a modest investment could buy 14.95 USD in MC, spend it all on Mech Bays when they are on a 50% off sale (which happens to be right now) and be set up to play the game for as long as they'd care to play it now that the '3 mech rule' to master mechs is a distant memory.

[JesterMWO]

I recently started a second account just to see what the current state of the new player experience and how viable it is to be a free to play player.

Overall I would say that you can have a great time playing for free. The trial mechs these days have good loadouts and with the cadet and academy cbills you can quickly buy your first mech. I bought a Bushwhacker X2 which I am skilling up. Thanks to the current challenges I have 400 mc and a few cockpit items.

So if you are happy to slowly build up your mech collection you can easily do that for free. If you are impatient then that's when you need to spend real money on mech packs, mc and premium time.

Just a couple of negatives - basic colours for cbills are too expensive and limited range, plus I don't like that you have to spend cbills to buy skill points as I think they should just be an xp cost.

[JediPanther]

They aren't screwed in mwo compared to a vast amount of f2p titles where it is common that you must buy xx level gear to advance. For about $10-$12 you can get a light mech hero with a life time 30% c-bill boost as long as you use that mech. Use the trial mechs and find a mech class you like a lot and find fun then consider a hero in that weight class. Watch a lot of you tube videos of heroes to see their load out and how they generally perform.

Having a c-bill boosted mech you like can add up to a lot of c-bills over time and on a personal note is a much wiser buy than premium time even though pt is 50% vs a hero's 30%. The premium time is active once all at once when you log into the game. It'll run 24/7 until it runs out.

As for playing without paying any money it is very do-able as my brother is pure f2p with his sole exception being a wolfhound hero I gifted him. He's been able to buy and sell many mechs just from playing the game. If your account is very new do the mech academy as it rewards a one time only c-bill bonus to doing mech academy things. You'll also get a cadet bonus up to 25 games last I knew which can get you a very decent mech.

Just use the trials every so often as they change. Any xp on the mechs are saved so when you buy that mech for cbills you'll have that xp to use on that variant. The load outs were originally ran by the community so they are ok. Once you have your first bought and now 'owned' mech you can custimise its weapon load out,do the decals,paint and if it is an IS mech upgrade or down grade the engine for builds. Most clan mechs come with all the upgrades already done hence the higher than IS mech cost. Once you compare IS mechs after upgrades there isn't much price difference between is and clan.

One major difference between IS and Clan are the xl engine. IS will explode once a side torso is blown up. Clan won't. up to you to decide which ones you want. I have a mix of IS and clan mechs.

[FireStoat]

Ah yeah, the others above have mentioned some good points. PGI as a company gives out more free stuff in comparison to many other Free to Play games in the way they hold Events. Events happen like once very 6 weeks at the least, usually more often than that. The rewards for the events range from Cbills, MC, Premium Time, and other perks. Winning colors and camo paint patterns for mechs is rare but it does happen.

Personally speaking, of the course of the last year I won 4 patterns, 5 colors, a free NCIX Centurion, Grid Iron Hunchback hero, a Linebacker, a Battlemaster 1G, a Banshee, a Hero Stormcrow, enough MC to purchase a free light hero mech of my choice (I should have held out for a medium in saving), more MC to purchase about 14 mech bays that were on sale, and probably close to a month in total days of free Premium time. Say what you want about PGI, but they are anything but stingy when it comes to the game and events.

If you are familiar with League of Legends, that game is perfectly fine to play as a free player and you advance along pretty well over time but PGI flat out gives out more free stuff. This game is NOTHING like Hearthstone, in which you more or less can play it if you have no life and focus on two meta decks (maximum) per expansion rotation.

Edit - In terms of sales, PGI has about 5-6 sales total per year, and has Mechbays (that's the big item) on sale about 3 times a year. So the company is great about sales and putting mechs on a discount rotation which rewards players for being patient with their spending.

Edited by FireStoat, 22 December 2017 - 11:08 PM.

[Beaching Betty]

I see no problem of going F2P.. I did spend some $$ on MWO, but only to buy some hero mech and never using it anymore except the Cent-YLW (AC20 TO YOUR FACE!)

[Exard3k]

One of the reasons I kept playing MWO after 2-3 months of F2P was that it really is totally optional to pay for stuff. I quit lots of other F2P titles because at some point you more or less have to spend money. Thats not the case in MWO. get premium time to get less grind, buy mech packs to get early access to new mechs or buy cosmetic stuff. nothing really special on MC-stuff

[Zh0u]

I am a f2p player and so far I don't feel screwed at all. PGI has been really generous with their events and dailies. Just look at the 27th December event. Plus I watch some of the streams on Twitch and managed to win some giveaways.
I just started in mid November and now almost tier 2. Total MC earned is around 2500, with 27th giving additional 1250MCs.

[Khobai]

PGI mostly got the F2P part of their game right

where PGI seems to have trouble is releasing things I actually want to spend money on

no I dont want to buy mech packs

no I dont care about bolt on cosmetic items (unless theyre moustaches)

no I dont want to buy MC or pay MC for premium time, consumables, or patterns/paintjobs/dekals.

yes id pay for development of real content like new maps, new gamemodes, NPC vehicles, fixed CW with actual logistics and immersion. actual role warfare and electronic/sensor warfare. but sadly those are things PGI never sells...

Edited by Khobai, 23 December 2017 - 02:23 AM.

[Burke IV]

Before you spend anything you need to be aware that what you are buying isnt set in stone. You might log in one day to find that somebody has had a bright idea and the game has turned into something totally different. My advice to you is spend nothing. Couple mech bays max.

[Jay Leon Hart]

Daegog, on 22 December 2017 - 10:27 PM, said:

Before I return to play and spend a few hundred bucks on whatever, what is the current viewpoint for the totally free to play players?

The most important piece fop advice for a returning player;

DO NOT SELL A 'MECH

Previously, you could buy it back and it (along with any duplicates) would have the same level of XP & skill unlocks

Now, that XP and the ne SP (skill Points) are locked to that specific 'mech, not the chassis, so if you sell it and buy it again later, you start from scratch (it tells you this when you sell a 'mech with XP or spent SP)

If you can manage not to sell any 'mechs, free to play shouldn't be too bad.

Edited by Jay Leon Hart, 23 December 2017 - 02:55 AM.

[Garran Tana]

Khobai, on 23 December 2017 - 12:45 AM, said:

yes id pay for development of real content like new maps, new gamemodes, NPC vehicles, fixed CW with actual logistics and immersion. actual role warfare and electronic/sensor warfare. but sadly those are things PGI never sells...

I wish they would make a kickstarter for that.
As for the topic - You can earn mechbays by participating in FW as a loyalist. first 6 levels are easy to get - that gives 2 Mechbays per faction and additional things on the way, similiarthing with the Mercs faction.

I paid some money for cosmetics and few mechs, but I did it while feeling grateful for PGI delivering a game that I really enjoy.

[Khobai]

Quote

I wish they would make a kickstarter for that.

yep they should do a kickstarter for that. similar to the founders program. and throw in some exclusive mechs too.

give us a kickstarter for like 2 new maps, 1 new gamemode (dropship defense gamemode), fixes for existing gamemodes (assault, escort, incursion) and improvements for CW (adding logistics/immersive elements), etc... and role warfare/sensorwarfare/revised skill tree.

plus some exclusive mechs

id pay $30-$60 for that. because thats the content I want.

Edited by Khobai, 23 December 2017 - 03:11 AM.

[Catra Lanis]

Burke IV, on 23 December 2017 - 01:13 AM, said:

Before you spend anything you need to be aware that what you are buying isnt set in stone. You might log in one day to find that somebody has had a bright idea and the game has turned into something totally different. My advice to you is spend nothing. Couple mech bays max.

That is really not an argument against buying since every online game is the same. Want to know about waking up to an entirely different experience? Look up Star Wars Galaxies and the NGE. Compared to that the changes here amount to nothing.

[Oldbob10025]

I can say its quite good. In this game your only real investment is maybe 14.99 for some MC to purchase mech bays when they go on sale. The key is to just wait for sales for the mech bays and bonus MC you get from sales. They happen around this time and I think once during the summer.

On my second IS only account I spent 14.99 and have a nice stable of mechs and enjoy playing the ones I have on that account. PGI gives mechbays, MC, C-bills and mechs out all the time with events to keep players happy.

You might have to grind some as Premium time is not given out that much but they do but what game do you not have to grind?

[Bandilly]

Remember the hugest F2P handout for MWO ever happens in just a few days on 12/27, easy double hero plus pile of other rewards handouts. Take the MC from that plus the current dailies and you end up withe enough to buy a few mech bays or even a light hero on sale.

The game is definitely F2P friendly. Mech bays are your biggest limitation, but you can earn a few free ones here and there or use earned MC from events to buy them. Hero mechs do earn money faster, but often times the non hero mechs are more effective in combat...with some exceptions.

It will take a little time to perfectly deck out a few mech and fill their skill trees, but that's why you get a big cadet rewards for those first 25 matches and start at tier 5. Basically you get time to prepare before you fight too many of the the more skilled/experienced players.

[Asym]

OK, some really great content so far...

No, nothing is life is truly free and MWO isn't an exception: as with any F2P game you have to decide up front what it is you really want: just to have fun; competitions; teams and teamwork combat; or, experimenting and tinkering.....etc... each choice comes with "some" costs... You can see that above in the "just spend 14.95 for............" comments...

As F2P games go, PGI is generous. But, and it's a big but, at some point they will "compel" you to spend: a new mech class, a new map that just kind of needs a "different type" of mech to be successful in; a F2P event that you'll need a "meta" build to even just play average games in with any hope of success, etc..... there are always cash traps (real cash or in-game cash: one is "now" and the "other" is earned in the grind over time).

Take the current scouting matches where if you take a "Light Scouting" mech, well, you won't live very long or have any chance of succeeding (unless you are a naturally skilled comp level player)..... So, as an example, Faction Play Scouting isn't really Scouting: it is a 4x4 Medium mech brawl where the intel deliverables you collected mean nothing..............

As learning curves and the grind go: for me, an average player, there are many other games that are far more fun to grind in.... MWO's curve is really up to what you invest in time and skill....

So I offer an alternative average player's view. Sorry, guys, but it's how I see it and have experienced it.....as an average player.

Edited by Asym, 23 December 2017 - 07:36 AM.

[Napoleon_Blownapart]

i am a cheapskate i bought 2, $7 MC packages for the bagpipes but probably only 50 since beta. i feel like PGI has has been throwing free stuff at me for months, so for a FTP game MWO is great.

[MrMadguy]

Daegog, on 22 December 2017 - 10:27 PM, said:

Before I return to play and spend a few hundred bucks on whatever, what is the current viewpoint for the totally free to play players?

How screwed are they?

In my experience, these games only go as far as the f2p experience allows. Is it a horrific grind for f2p players to advance and get new mechs? Is it considered f2p friendly?

I have a habit of overspending and im trying to reign myself in and ask before i whip out the credit card and feel buyers remorse 2 weeks later.

I currently play completely for free, as game isn't as good, as it was prior to release of Clans.

Initially you will have 4 'Mech bays and access to all CB 'Mechs - everything, except Heroes, Champions and Mech Pack special variants. You will have to grind CB and XP to buy Skill Tree points on every single 'Mech, cuz XP transfer from 'Mechs, that have exceeding XP, is paid.

In order to buy anything, that requires MC, i.e. 'Mech bays, Camos, Colors, Decals, etc., you'll need to participate in events, that grant small amounts of MC, and wait for sales to get 50% discounts. Amount of MC, granted to you, is enough to regularly buy extra 'Mech bays, but Heroes will require some patience. I've recently bought Top Dog this way. If Christmas event will bring me enough MC, I will buy Butterbee instead of buying camos for MadCat MKII,

[Cy Mitchell]

You can play 100% for free and still have fun. Invest enough of your time and you can even be competitive. Lots of free stuff is just handed to you. What more could you ask for from a company that still needs to make money somewhere to keep the game alive?